Solar Cells Info

Source: EarthTimes.org /Popular Science, press release
New York, 12 Nov 2007
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/news_press_release,221537.shtml

For the second consecutive year, Popular Science is honoring one top product out of its 100 Best of What’s New award winners as “Innovation of the Year.” This honor goes to the remarkably designed PowerSheet flexible solar cells. Imagine a solar panel without the panel. Nanosolar has created an ink that takes sunlight and converts it into electricity. The ink is coated onto metal sheets as thin as aluminum foil with a printing-press-like device. The sheets are lighter, inexpensive and as efficient as traditional solar panels. The editors of PopSci believe that eventually every commercial rooftop could be carpeted with PowerSheet solar cells.

“The Best of What’s New awards honor those innovations that are truly going to make a difference in the way we live today and in the future,” says Mark Jannot, editor in chief of Popular Science. “The Innovation of the Year distinction goes to the Nanosolar PowerSheet because of the magnitude of its potential impact. Nanosolar could bring inexpensive, environmentally friendly solar power not only to buildings throughout the United States, but to countries where even electricity is a luxury. It really is the game-changer the solar industry has been seeking for decades.”

Every year, the editors of Popular Science review thousands of new products and technologies in pursuit of the 100 breakthroughs that merit the magazine’s highest honor, a Best of What’s New award. Appearing in the much- anticipated December issue of Popular Science — the most widely read issue of the year — Best of What’s New celebrates the 100 most ingenious products, ideas and technologies across the 10 main categories that Popular Science and its readers are passionate about, from Personal Health to Home Tech, Aviation & Space to Auto Tech.

In addition to the Innovation of the Year, topping each Best of What’s New category is one Grand Award winner, a product or technology that represents a significant leap over existing technologies in its industry. These winners are based on the significance of the innovation, the quality of the design and the finished product, the originality of thought, and the ambition and scope of the overall project.

The full list, descriptions and images of all Best of What’s New winners are in the December issue of Popular Science and online at http://www.popsci.com/bown2007.

GREEN TECH: NANOSOLAR POWERSHEET  INNOVATION OF THE YEAR
With funding from Google's founders and the U.S. Department of Energy, Nanosolar's first commercial solar cells rolled off the presses this year. Cost has always been one of solar energy's biggest drawbacks, but the  PowerSheet is made of ink, rather than silicon, which results in a sheet that's lighter, less expensive and as efficient as traditional solar  panels.